Reviving Magic in the Interstellar Era

Even after the gods fell and divine punishment ceased to exist, black magic and necromancy remained forbidden arts.

Hei Ze, the foremost black mage and necromancer of the glorious Age of the Gods, was locked inside his own mage tower, where he lost all sense of time.

Who knows how many years passed before the black mage tower, which could withstand a strike from a god, finally came crashing down under the control of the greatest mage of all: Time!

Hei Ze: ...Well, that was sudden. My house is gone.

The black mage was forced to struggle for survival in an era that had evolved into the interstellar age.

On the first day, Hei Ze put his necromancer skills to use and made himself a skeleton servant.

On the third day, Hei Ze ran into a group of interstellar pirates who called themselves Alphas and was sold off to work in a mine.

On the fifth day, Hei Ze's worldview shattered into pieces.

.

During the occasional moment of leisure, Hei Ze read the historical records scattered around the mage tower. From a few brief lines, he learned that the last god had fallen, the mage tradition had died out, and only witches remained. Then came the witch hunts of the Bronze Age. It filled him with grief and outrage.

"Those were witches, capable of stirring the moon's tides and unleashing vast, boundless surges of magic."

The soulfire in the little skeleton's eyes flickered twice. "Sir, what's the moon?"

Hei Ze: "In your terms, it's a satellite."

"That's a shame, sir. Planet B277D has a double-satellite system, W417 and W418."

Hei Ze: So he didn't even have a moon anymore!

*

The pitch-black tower stood on a barren planet, ignored by all.

Until a young master who wanted to join the military but was held back by his Omega status bought a magic potion on the barren planet that let him control his heat cycle;

a Beta of mediocre talent, abandoned by his family, rode a flying broom through space in pursuit of pirate starships;

and a child of seven or eight drew a summoning magic circle, calling an indescribable monster from another dimension.

*

I am a relic of the old era, and the king of the new.

Coming soon:

This Blade Cultivator Is Nothing Special: An idea I'm playing with

Song Chunxi was a perfectly ordinary blade cultivator. One day, he passed through the mortal realm and got hungry. He found a huge piece of meat, so he built a fire, set up a pot, and started making soup.

Only after he'd added all eighteen seasonings did the "meat" start talking.

Oh no. It seems I can't eat it.

Song Chunxi was rather disappointed.

*

Shi Wuchen was the senior disciple of an immortal sect, a spy sent into the sect by the Demon Realm, and the most evil, yin-aspected demonic creature in the world: a black qilin.

When his true identity was exposed, he became the target of both the immortal and demonic sects. They cut off his horns, tore out his tendons, removed his bones, drained his blood, and gouged out his internal organs... In the end, only his shattered soul and an empty shell remained.

He escaped, consumed by boundless hatred, only for a warm hand to pick him up the next second... and toss him into a stream. "Ha! Sit back and wait for dinner to come to you. Free meat."

Shi Wuchen: "..."

After Song Chunxi realized he'd misunderstood Shi Wuchen, he decided to help him rebuild his body, to make up for hurting the young man's feelings by nearly tossing him into the pot.

Shi Wuchen looked at the rusty saber in his arms and said nothing.

Just an ordinary blade cultivator.

Until the day someone tried to possess him. Song Chunxi swung his blade without hesitation, unleashing killing intent as fierce as a rainbow piercing the sun, along with countless howling flurries of snow. "Number one hundred and ninety-seven."

Song Chunxi sheathed his blade and spoke to the soul slowly fading away. "You're the one hundred and ninety-seventh illegal visitor I've killed this year."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the Gatekeeper of this cultivation world. This realm isn't part of your Planet Online game."

In summary: The Fourth Calamity wreaks havoc, and the Gatekeeper can take no more, so he joins the battle with his blade.

Next book: Breaking the Immortal Branch: A short crematorium-style story, complete in twenty chapters

Theme: Work steadfastly toward your goal